Sexual health checks

We look at where you can get a sexual health test and what happens in the examination.

Sexually transmitted diseases are soaring, and a test is the only way to confirm whether you're infected or not. If you're at risk, isn't it time you bit the bullet and got yourself a sexual health check?

Today the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases is soaring (even in the over-50s!).

If you have a long-term partner and you're both totally faithful to each other, you've nothing to worry about.

But if you've recently had any sexual activity with anybody, there has to be a chance that you've picked up something.

You may feel perfectly well and have no symptoms. However, a sexually-transmitted infection (STI) could have established itself in your genital organs – or even in your throat.

Having a medical check-up and a test for STIs is the only way to confirm whether you're infected or not. So if you're at risk, maybe you should get yourself a sexual health check.

The check-up will include a test for an infection called chlamydia, which has become very common during this century.

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It's thought that in some towns, well over 10 per cent of young people have it – but they mostly don't know it.

In 2013, there were over a quarter of a million cases of chlamydia infection in the UK.

Two-thirds of the people who caught it were under 25. So, unless you're a virgin, perhaps you should get a sexual health check every now and again,or at least a chlamydia test – just to make sure that everything's OK.

Where can you get a sexual health check?

Alternatively, your GP may be able to perform some of the tests -- but you'll get more specialist advice and treatment at a GUM clinic.

If you’re young, you can also get good and confidential advice at one of the Brook advisory centres, who provide free sexual health advice and services specifically for young under 25.

And in quite a lot of towns, there are young people's health clinics, which are run along similar lines to Brook.

If you're female, you can have an internal check up and get confidential advice at any family planning clinic. But these clinics do not have highly sophisticated equipment for STI testing. And these day they are very fully occupied by contraceptive work.

So, for a sex MOT, your best move is to go to one of Britain's NHS GUM clinics. GUM clinics are staffed by doctors, nurses or sexual health advisors – who are all experts in STIs.

Are GUM clinics confidential?

Yes. The clinic will not give any information about you to your GP, your parents, your family, your college, your employers or anybody else. What you tell them remains confidential.

Young people have often said to me: 'But I hear that information about patients is sometimes passed on.' This is completely untrue.

The GUM clinic would be breaking a patient's confidentiality if they gave personal information to outsiders. And that is totally forbidden.

Understandably, some patients like to make extra sure by giving a false name when they go to a GUM clinic. To be frank, no-one minds if you do this. But make sure you remember the false name, so the clinic staff will be able to look up your test results for you.

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Will the clinic staff disapprove of you?

The staff do not disapprove of patients. Clinics are non-judgemental places, and all of the staff are used to dealing with every issue and situation that can arise. They're not going to pass judgment on your sex life.

The clinic staff regard their job as helping people, and they do this by diagnosing sexual infections and treating them.

And if they find that you have no sexual infection, they'll happily reassure you.

What happens when you get there?

When you arrive, you will check in with a receptionist. They will ask you to do a urine specimen, so try not to go to the toilet for two hours beforehand. You'll probably also be offered a blood test at some stage.

After a short wait, you'll be sent in to see a doctor. Sometimes, you may have a preliminary chat with a nurse.

The doctor or nurse will ask you why you've come and whether you've got any symptoms. They will be perfectly happy if you explain that you have no symptoms at all and have just come along for a check-up.

They will ask you about your lifestyle and your sex life. Be prepared for questions like: 'How long ago did you last have sex?' or 'Was it vaginal, oral or anal?' or ‘Was is straight or gay?’.

It's much simpler to give the doctor or nurse the complete truth, so that he or she can make an accurate assessment of your situation.

If you're a woman, it's a good idea to be sure that you know the date of your last period. This is often helpful to the doctor.

What happens in the examination?

You will always be examined. But the nature of the exam depends on whether you’re male or female.

Men

If you're a male, the doctor will:

have a brief look at your skin

check your groins for lumps

use a gloved hand to feel your testicles and penis (which isn't painful).

You may be asked to use your fingers to 'milk' your organ downwards, to see if there's any discharge – which the clinic could then look at under the microscope.

If you have had anal sex, or if you have any 'bottom symptoms', the doctor will do a rectal examination using a gloved finger.

Swabs will be taken from your penis and possibly your throat and your bottom, so that the lab can 'culture' them for germs. Again, having a swab taken doesn't hurt. In 2014, there is still a mad myth to the effect that sexual health clinics put a painful umbrella-like device down your penis. This is just nonsense. They don’t.

Women

And if you're female, the doctor will:

check out your skin below the waist

look at the outside of your genitals (don't be embarrassed – she’s seen it all before)

insert a small instrument called a 'speculum' which lets her view the inside of your vagina, including your cervix

take some samples of moisture from inside the vagina, which doesn't hurt. These will be examined under the microscope, and also sent off to the lab

do an internal examination with gloved fingers.

If you have any 'bottom symptoms', she will also take a rectal swab.

She may take a throat swab – particularly if you have any symptoms that might have been caused by oral sex, such as a sore throat.

Your results

Some of your tests can be done there and then. These are the ones where samples of your body fluids are looked at under a microscope by the clinic staff.

The swabs that are sent off to the lab will take some days to 'culture'. So to get those results, you'll either be invited to come back in about a week or else call up and get them over the phone.

Similarly, blood test results always take a few days.

Treatment

A high proportion of people who go for a sex MOT turn out to have nothing wrong with them.

Nobody minds this! The staff are delighted to give you a clean bill of health.

If your results are positive, please remember that the clinic doctors are nearly always going to be able to cure it – often by giving you a carefully chosen antibiotic.

They will also discuss the importance of treating sex partners, which is essential in terms of stopping the spread of infections.

How do you get seen at a GUM clinic?

You need to start by calling a clinic and asking them whether you'll need an appointment or whether you can just walk in.

But how do you get the phone number? In Britain, there are over 200 GUM clinics, and many of them are located in large hospitals. So if you want to, you could call your nearest hospital and ask them to put you through to the GUM clinic. But a lot of people find that a bit embarrassing.

And regrettably, recent financial cuts have put an end to some of the advice services, which offered a list of GUM clinics. Nevertheless, a simple, anonymous way of finding out where your nearest clinic is located is to visit the Family Planning Association website.

All you do then is to tap in your post code, and you’ll then be given the details of the nearest GUM clinic, together with a map. Don’t hesitate: if you’re in any doubt about whether you might have picked up a ‘sex bug’, go and have that check-up.

The materials in this web site are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor. The web site does not have answers to all problems. Answers to specific problems may not apply to everyone. If you notice medical symptoms or feel ill, you should consult your doctor - for further information see our Terms and conditions.